Archive for January, 2011

Email marketing is known as one of the most effective ways of reaching potential new customers and maintaining old ones.

The main advantages are the low-cost, the fact that is quick to implement, also easy to measure and it provides probably the best return on investment of any marketing channel.

Communicating effectively with potential customers is one of the biggest challenges facing most marketers. So it’s worth investing some time and resources in your email marketing strategy which means planning your campaigns, adopting best practice and building up quality lists that suit your purposes.

How important is the list?

An email marketing list is filled with customers and prospects who have agreed to receive information from you. Every marketer wants their list for email marketing campaigns to grow fast and with the right kind of information, but building a quality email marketing list takes time because it is not as easy as it seems.

Growing the list of email contacts is very important for your campaigns. The more people you can send your emails to, the more leads you are likely to generate.

You’ll also be able to segment, profile and personalize your campaigns more effectively.

This does not mean that the number is the most important factor to take in count when building your email database. Your list should be built according to what you hope to obtain from your subscribers through direct email.

Below are some tips for growing your database for the success of your campaigns.

Offer valuable information for free or a reward

This is one way to encourage customers to subscribe to your mailing list.

Instead of exclusively running direct-to-sale initiatives, try offering a free article, white paper or template once in awhile. If the topic is relevant and timely, people will gladly trade their contact information for your knowledge. As well you can offer rewards, for example exclusive discounts.

Offer rewards for recruiting their friends and family

You can convince existing customers to recruit friends and family by offering them a small gift or a reward. This is a fast and easy way to gather extra contacts. It’s very easy, by simply asking your subscribers to pass your marketing information to a friend, colleague or co-worker.

Use social media and blogs

Use every channel available to you to make sure everyone who wants to hear about you will be able to see your offer.
Post a link to your newsletter subscription page on your facebook page,mention it once in a while in your twitter stream, post a link in the description on your youtube videos, don’t forget to mention it in every blog post when you announce an offer.

Encourage newsletter subscriptions during all sale transactions

This will allow you to have a list of consumers and previous customers who may be interested in future promotions and sales.
A checkbox for newsletter subscription is an easy way to gather more contacts on your list right before checkout.
If they don’t subscribe when they buy something , mention the availability of the newsletter in your transactional emails ( like in the order confirmation messages ).

Make it easy to subscribe

The subscription form should be easy to use and very visible on your website.
Help people subscribe through the easiest way to your newsletter, a difficult subscription process will not be very good for you.

Caution! Using purchased lists is called spam.
Although you have found a big list for little money those people did not subscribe to receive your messages. Everything you will send to such a list will be considered spam.